


Lending a Hand

by dornishsphinx



Category: Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Corporate Espionage, Kidnapping, M/M, Nagamas 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 01:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13202556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dornishsphinx/pseuds/dornishsphinx
Summary: When his best friend's father goes missing under mysterious circumstances, Hector, a newly-appointed detective constable, is on the case - even if he's technically not supposed to be. Along with Eliwood and an assortment of his family's staff, a rookie private investigator - and something of a professional rival - named Lyndis who's new to the city of Lycia, and the help of any actual coworkers he can get, he is determined to find out just what is going on.





	Lending a Hand

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for indigo-inks over on tumblr for nagamas 2017!

As Marcus turned the car off the main road, Hector made one last-ditch effort to convince Eliwood to return to Ostia PD.

“I’ll go back and talk to Uther,” he said, hoping against hope that Eliwood’s damn sense of nobility wouldn’t get in the way of reason, “He’ll waive the 24-hour waiting period if I just knock some sense into him.”

“No,” said Eliwood, “I don’t want you risking your job for me – well, any more than you are already, but I know I can hardly stop you on that front.”

“Going private, though? Look, if we’re going to find your father, we’ll need actual resources!”

He’d actually already called up Matthew and told him to get researching Elbert’s last movements, but this would all be far simpler if he could just order him around with Uther’s blessing. This sneakiness just wasn’t his style. He’d do it for Eliwood’s sake, of course, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t prefer doing it for Eliwood’s sake in a more straightforward way.

“I trust Rebecca’s judgement,” said Eliwood firmly, “Besides, I’ve met this Lyndis, if only briefly. She seems capable, and I don’t exactly have time to go window-shopping for another private eye willing to take the job.”

Eliwood’s bodyguard, Lowen – the Pherae family were more than a little paranoid about their only son’s security and Eliwood was the affable sort who’d let them have their own way so long as it didn’t clash with his own ethics – nodded: “Rebecca says she’s the best detective in the city who still has a sense of morality about her.”

“Best _private_ detective with a sense of morals about her, of course,” said Eliwood at Hector’s offended expression, “I’m sure Ostia has a lot of good people working there.”

“More than just good,” Hector grumbled, but Eliwood had that resolute look to him that he knew all too well, so he sighed and let the matter drop. Private it was, then.

Marcus pulled up and parked; he stayed behind with the car as the three of them got out and walked towards the building. Hector took the opportunity to glare at the name freshly-painted above it: _Caelin Detective Agency_. Eliwood knocked on the door and leant back. He looked perfectly composed, but Hector could see a tenseness to him, something not quite right in his posture. He was about to slap him on the back and tell him everything was going to turn out fine when the door creaked open; a sharp-suited man with slicked-back red hair peered out at them.

“Oh, you must be… Mr Pherae?” he said to Eliwood, who nodded, “Come in.”

They followed him through a narrow corridor and into the main body of the office. Hector took in his surroundings; it was spacious enough, though certainly showing its age. A few employees were scattered around: some were filing, some were laughing together and, if he wasn’t mistaken, one had taken fright at their entrance and run off into the back room. The red-haired employee disappeared into one of the offices and, after a few seconds, a woman he recognised appeared before them.

“Mr Pherae,” said Lyndis Lorca, voice full of empathy, “I got the message you sent about your father. Come in.” The kind look on her face turned to surprise, then to wryness, as she spotted Hector behind him, like someone spotting a raincloud after a day of sunshine. “Ah. Kent did say someone else was here, but I wasn’t expecting _you_ , Detective.”

“Lorca.”

“You know each other already?” asked Eliwood.

“It’s a long story,” said Lyn.

“It’s quite short, actually,” said Hector, “We were working on the same case. I solved it before her.”

“We can discuss how you would never have solved it without the legwork I’d already done _later_. First, you’ll have to fill me in on what you already know.”

Hector knew all the details already, of course: Eliwood had spilled everything to him in a panic after rushing into Ostia PD to find him. His father, Elbert, hadn’t returned home the night before and still hadn’t come back that morning – a most unusual thing for a quiet, settled man who usually came home early like clockwork. 

Unfortunately, only twelve hours had elapsed, while local policy only allowed for missing persons cases to be opened after twenty-four. And Uther, damn him, was nothing if not a stickler for the rules. Eliwood had been infuriatingly understanding of his brother’s position – far more so than Hector had been – and had departed quickly to find the private eye who’d come recommended by his bodyguard’s girlfriend.

Hector wasn’t about to let him go it alone, of course, which was how he’d ended up here.

“Hm,” said Lyn, from behind her desk, “Did you receive any threats? Blackmail letters?”

“No,” said Eliwood, “But we’ve received them in the past, from the Black Fang.”

“The Black Fang?” said Lyn, confused, “I’ve not heard of them.”

“Well, you’re new in the city,” said Hector, before one of the loitering men could lean in and whisper to her. The red-haired one – Kent, she’d called him – looked irritated, but remained silent; the other one pouted. “They were an activist group who disbanded about three years ago. Nobody’s heard anything from them since.”

“Yes,” said Eliwood, “And they stopped sending them once we’d uncovered the exploitation in the lower levels of the company. I mean, that’s what they wanted, after all. Even so, Father and Mother both usually keep a bodyguard on them, just in case, so I don’t know how this could have happened.”

Lyn frowned before grabbing her coat from the hat-stand beside her desk. “You said he would have been at the company office before he went missing, right?” she said, “We should probably check there first for clues.”

A short pause ensued.

“Shouldn’t we talk about your fee first?” said Eliwood, delicately.

Lyn went red in the face. “Oh! Oh, yeah, that’s right. Um, I think Grandfather has the flat rate in the back—”

Kent immediately rushed off towards the back of the office while the other conferred quietly with Lyn. Hector turned to Eliwood and, _sotto voce_ , asked: “Still think we should have gone private?”

“Be reasonable, Hector,” said Eliwood, equally quietly, “Besides, how long precisely has it been since _you_ made Detective yourself?”

“Bah. You have a point, as always. But I still don’t think we should be risking your father’s well-being on making a rookie feel better about herself.”

Ah, maybe he’d spoken too loud; that was definitely a death glare being sent his way by Lackey #2.

“Please don’t make enemies of the people trying to help us, Hector,” said Eliwood, exasperation clear even in a whisper. Still, his face had softened. “I know you’re afraid for him too. But we'll all be working together on this and besides, we have one of the city’s finest here.”

“Huh? We do?”

“Yes,” said Eliwood, after a short pause, “You, Hector. I’d thought that was obvious, but…”

“Oh. Well,” said Hector, a pleased, warm feeling sinking into his chest, “You don’t have to worry. We’ll definitely find him.”

Eliwood smiled at that. Hector had always thought Eliwood’s smiles were sweeter, somehow, than everybody else’s. They were just on a different level, even from the pleased, thin ones that would creep onto Uther’s face sometimes, or the ones Oswin wore whenever Hector had done something of which he could be proud. Eliwood’s was like a gentle flame that had a way of entirely lighting up his face – a handsome one in and of itself, if made gaunter than nature intended by a childhood predisposition to illness.

It almost distracted him from Kent’s return with another stern-looking guy, this one with a permanent scowl twisting any handsomeness off his face – the opposite of Eliwood, really. When he finally managed to fully extract himself from his daze, they’d come to a settlement, the angry-looking one was gone, and the case had officially begun.

***

Elbert’s office was rather plain for someone in his position, Hector mused. Lyn’s lackeys were ransacking the rest of the place for clues along with Lowen while their boss went through Elbert’s desk; Eliwood was sitting at it too, guessing his father’s passwords to the ancient desktop sitting on it – apparently, Elbert was the sort of guy who had the most sentimental, easily-guessable ones imaginable, though he was having a tougher time with his work email, which Elbert had apparently not understood how to change the password for at all.

Hector’s mobile rumbled – he grabbed it. Confirmation, finally. He quickly dialled the station; it only took a couple of seconds for Matthew to pick up.

“Sir,” said Matthew, in that strangely formal way he had around anyone of higher rank, no matter how many times those “anyones” had told him he could just use their name, “I’ve ran a search of all Elbert Pherae’s business dealings for the past month: he’d been communicating with a few new names, it seems.”

“Oh? Who, exactly?”

“Let’s see… Araphen & Co., Badon Shipping, Khathelet Industries, Laus & Sons, Valor Island Ferries…”

“What were those new dealings, exactly?”

More typing noises came down the line, followed by a huff of irritation.

“Encrypted ones, apparently. I’ll have to get these down to Serra.”

Hector sent a silent apology to Matthew’s eardrums, before realising a more pressing matter: “Could you not… say what they’re for?”

On the other end, Matthew was silent.

“Just for now, anyway.”

“Of course, sir.”

Agh, he knew that tone of voice. He was totally going to tattle on him. Well, whatever. Hopefully they’d have found Elbert before Uther could get his hands on him.

“Let me know when Serra gets the details.”

“Oh,” said Matthew, who’d clearly been hoping this new lead had spared him interaction with she who should not be named, “Of course. I’ll get right on that.”

Hector ended the call, though not before hearing a weary sigh on the other end.

“Found anything yet?” he asked.

Lyn brandished a sheet of paper. “There are gaps in this list of meetings. He’d have several every day, but for some reason there are half-hour gaps dotted around with no rhyme or reason to them.”

“I’ve found something too,” said Eliwood, gesturing to the computer screen, “For some reason he’s been corresponding extensively with someone called Caerleon about the fallout after what happened to Cornwell. Apparently, things weren’t wrapped up as well as they should have been – missing records; even missing people. It’s… concerning, though I don’t know if it has anything to do with what’s happening now.”

“Cornwell,” said Hector, “Huh.”

He knew the name, of course. Cornwell & Co. had been dissolved years ago when their links to the criminal underworld had been uncovered. Uther had been involved with that case himself when he was still just a detective. He filled them in on what Matthew had discovered; Lyn painstakingly noted down all the company names on her phone and sent them off to someone back at Caelin.

Eliwood was still frowning at the screen, though, so Hector found himself drifting closer to the desk where he was still sitting. Eliwood blinked up at him.

“Yes?”

“I was starting to think you were hypnotised.”

“Oh. No, it’s just… the emails I found. They all talk about it being a coverup, that the head of Cornwell was actually taken advantage of by a bigger group and the investigation team didn’t bother digging any deeper.”

“There’s no way,” said Hector, immediately.

“I know your brother was on the case—” started Eliwood, carefully, but Lyn jumped in.

“Just because your brother was on the case doesn’t mean there _wasn’t_ a coverup.”

“By which we mean,” said Eliwood, quickly, “That he might not have known.”

A long pause ensued, only broken by the buzz of Lyn’s phone.

“I’ve got to take this. Give me a minute.”

She held the phone up to her face and began talking quietly with whomever was on the other end; Eliwood cleared his throat.

“Look,” he said, slowly, “I know Ms Lorca was a little harsh, but she’s not entirely wrong. People make mistakes; you know, someone else might have even given his team false evidence or testimony.” Hector remained silent; Eliwood sighed. “Just—look, I’m sure the Cornwell case isn’t connected to what’s happened here, but if it is…”

“It’s not,” said Hector, “But if it was, there’s no way my feelings would get in the way. Don’t worry.”

If anything, that seemed to make Eliwood more concerned. “Hector,” he said, face painfully genuine, “You don’t need to pretend that this isn’t affecting you. That all of this is affecting you.”

Thankfully, Hector was spared having to talk about his emotional state – which was perfectly normal, he had no idea what Eliwood was waffling on about – by Lyn making a sound of triumph and dramatically shoving her phone back into her bag. Hector leant back from the desk, pulling his hand off its surface.

“We have a lead,” she said, proudly.

***

The mist was picking up in the air as the afternoon began to fade into evening. Hector and Eliwood were standing behind the offices, waiting, one patiently enough and the other fidgeting. Lowen was a little ways away, procuring something to eat from a local deli after he’d sworn to hearing his charge’s stomach grumble; he’d dithered a while before Hector had told him to go, that he would take care of Eliwood in his stead. He’d scarpered off, no doubt hoping to break the world speed record for fastest pick up and delivery.

“Where is that private eye of yours?” said Hector, “And what’s taking her so long?”

“I’m sure she’ll be here in a moment,” said Eliwood, standing there, composed, but with eyes staring off into nothingness.

Hector couldn’t help but keep a beady eye on him, watching him like a Sacaean hawk for signs of a fog-induced chill. Eliwood was, of course, older and far sturdier than before – though that really, really wasn’t saying much, considering the scrawny, sickly whelp with the hidden backbone of iron he’d been when they first met – but there were just some things that stuck with you, habits formed over the years, symptoms he knew to watch for and consequences of not doing so learned.

He was so fixed on studying him for any shivers or wheezing that he didn’t manage to school his face in time when Eliwood glanced over at him. “I’m fine, Hector,” he said, with a trace of irritation, “I’m not a kid anymore.”

“I wasn’t doing anything!”

“ _Right_.”

He was again saved from the old argument – he knew it was coming, he could almost feel it like an old fisherman could sense an oncoming storm – when his phone rumbled. Elimine’s blessings on modern technology; he picked up immediately.

“Yes?”

“Does the name Geitz ring any bells, sir?”

“Should it?”

“He testified against Badon Shipping a couple of months ago. Said they were running a kidnapping ring. Apparently Laus and Valor Ferries were involved in it too. Actually, most of the companies we found on that list of Mr Pherae’s were.”

Hector’s blood ran cold. “He’s not the type to be involved with—”

“That’s the thing, sir. He wasn’t conducting deals with them.”

If it was possible, his blood ran colder, like it was ice sticking to the sides of his veins.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

“Serra got some of those documents decrypted and – well, it turns out a couple of his employees got snatched two months ago – the sort of people nobody would miss. He did, though. So, he went looking for them. And he found them. Kind of. But the people who snatched them found him too.”

Hector cursed the Pherae family’s apparently genetic tendency towards nobility of character, but Matthew was still talking:

“It looks like he didn’t realise who precisely he could and couldn’t trust while researching kidnapping conspiracies. Probably figured it was something street-level, so he’d be fine asking for help from his connections in the business world.” 

“What do you know about the ring? Where would they hold them?”

Eliwood’s eyebrows shot up; he crowded into Hector’s space, like he could hear what was going on if he could just get close enough. Hector’s breath stuttered as Matthew answered:

“There are a few possible hotspots. I’m sending people out to each one.”

“Send a map over here too.”

“You’re not going to rescue them by getting yourself shot to pieces, sir,” said Matthew, in an uncharacteristically candid way.

“Send it anyway,” said Hector, hanging up.

“What’s happening?” said Eliwood, “Did they find out where he is?!”

Right on cue, Lowen appeared, running back over to them with arms full of what looked like sandwiches, just as Lyn’s motorbike revved behind him, her two lackeys trailing behind her along with Marcus' car like some sort of bizarre cavalcade. “You two!” she shouted over the sound of the engines, “Let’s go!”

***

“It took a lot of favours,” Lyn said, crouching low, examining the docks with an investigator’s eye, “But after cross-referencing all the latest disappearances around the city with Hector’s info, I’m fairly sure this is the place.”

Hector looked at his own phone, with all its locations, then hers with sweeping circles and districts, and the little cross-reference points on each. Maybe he’d underestimated how useful having someone outside the system would be to the case, just a little.

“Right. We’ve got to be sneaky about this. They’ll take off with the victims early if they get wind of any police presence. How long do we have?”

“Fifteen minutes, though they’ll be gone in five if they clock us,” said Leila, in her undercover gear. She technically wasn’t supposed to be on active duty, what with the horrific wound she’d received a few months back, but she had a bone to pick with Valor Ferries and Matthew wouldn’t have heard the end of it if he’d kept the details from her.

“Right. Let’s go.”

Hector watched her as she slipped away across the docks with the other operatives and towards the target ship, before shifting himself around the other way, keeping an eye out behind them as they’d agreed. It was good to have something to do. The idea of just sitting around, waiting and hoping nothing would go wrong – well, the situation was still frustrating, but having absolutely nothing to do would have been _hell_. He really wasn’t cut out for this sneaking around business. He gritted his teeth, heart beating in his throat.

Then he caught a glimpse of Eliwood beside him, face entirely white but for his freckles, eyes wide, body shaking. Hector thought again to slap his back in comfort – but when he reached out, he found himself shoving his hand into Eliwood’s own instead, like back when they were kids. It had been a long time since then, yet somehow, Eliwood’s hand still felt as natural in his own as if they’d never been separated. Eliwood looked back at him, eyes still wide and hand still trembling; but then the tremors faded, his eyes closed, and he leant into him fully. 

Hector's heartbeat slowed a little and, calmer now, he scanned the perimeter.

***

Elbert was alive – worse for wear, blood on his temple and bruises on his face and arms – but alive. A young woman and boy, probably related considering how alike they looked, had supported him with care as they exited the belly of the ship; it seemed that another common trait of the Pherae family was getting people to care about their well-being in an alarmingly short matter of time. Lyn was with those two now, having cycled through the languages she knew before finding a common tongue with them, doing her best to communicate in Ilian, that language which sounded far too melodic for a land as harsh and wintry as its birthplace, some acquaintance of hers waiting patiently on the other end of the line in case she was needed for interpreting more nuanced concepts or trickier vocabulary.

He could leave Ninian and Nils, as their names apparently were, to Lyn; she seemed to have a far better handle on them than he would have. He focused his attention on the Pherae family instead: when the police milling around had given the go-ahead, Eliwood and his mother had dashed forward, colliding into their lost family member, caring not a whit for propriety. Their bodyguards still stood watch, though Harken, Elbert’s faithful watchdog, looked rather worse for wear, leaning heavily on Eleanora’s bodyguard, Isadora. While Eliwood had let go, it seemed Eleanora had little intention of doing so anytime soon.

“I’m so glad,” said Eliwood, voice shaking, “I thought for a moment—ah, but it was just a moment.” He smiled up at Hector from where he’d sunk into the temporary seat of the back of a police van. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d have done without you here. Panicked, I suppose.”

“Don’t be daft,” said Hector, “You’d have muddled through.”

“I’m starting to think you can’t take a compliment, Hector,” Eliwood said, but smiled as he did so. Hesitantly, he stretched out his hand; Hector grasped it without a thought. He wasn’t entirely sure when they were supposed to let go, but after several seconds passed, he realised that Eliwood had absolutely no intention of doing so. He left his hand where it was, then, no words necessary, and both of them sat together for a long while, watching Eleanora and Elbert cling to one another, their bodyguards hovering awkwardly beside them, and the sun beginning its descent over Valor in the distance, turning the water to murk and the electric lights shining down on them to beacons in the dark.


End file.
